Hearts and Minds Nourished by Nature

I am really excited to be involved in a new piece of research into a form of nature therapy that is currently quite limited - and probably for good reasons you might think. However, evaluation of our work with ex members of the armed forces clearly demonstrated high adrenaline activities were more attractive to some. Walking alongside a wolf and feeling an intimate connection with this wild animal could be counted as inducing an adrenaline rush.

From the range of Nature Quests we deliver, it seems the more unusual or demanding ones were the most well received by some. Partly this could be because high adrenaline activities can help ground you if you experience symptoms of detachment with post traumatic stress disorder - and partly because of the need for higher and higher thrill seeking to help release the feel good neurotransmitter - dopamine.

Promises, a recovery centre in the US, currently deliver Wolf Assisted Therapy using rescued and specially trained wolves and wolf dogs who would have otherwise been destroyed under US legislation. Interestingly Equine Assisted Therapy also first started as a formal therapeutic intervention in the recovery world and has expanded to become a global intervention despite major concerns for safety. The expansion involves the use of many different clinically accepted models of application, from neurolinguistic Programming to Gestalt and from psychotherapeutic to solution focused - all have a part to play as a underpinning theory of practice somewhere in the world alongside a range of other more metaphysical models of application.

Having studied the involvement of horses in the development of human well being over many years and across the world, I have looked at so many different ways of involving horses. At Nature Therapy CIC, we use a model of equine assisted learning and therapy that involves interacting with horses using all the senses and the horse as a metaphor for life.

The qualities we apply to an animal are an important part of the approach - our vision of the horse has been crafted over centuries - generally it is seen as free, beautiful athletic, kind and spiritual although the shadow to this is unpredictable and fearsome. All these qualities we give to the horse are only really aspects of ourselves. A lot of equine assisted work involves working with our fears.

What qualities do you see in a wolf? Do you see it as a strong, independent animal with a fierce sense of protection for its pack or do you see it as a threat to your safety, a indiscriminate killer that walks alone?

Over the coming months I will be contacting various people and hopefully may even visit a woldfcentre to try and learn more about how Wolf Assisted Therapy may be applied - to the benefit of the human - and the wolf.